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37 students receive Smith Scholarship

For Immediate Release: July 1, 2015

BLOOMSBURG — Thirty-seven graduates from four Central Pennsylvania area schools have been awarded the Fred G. Smith Scholarship to attend Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania during the 2015-16 academic year. A total of nearly $56,000 was awarded.

Smith, who owned and managed Nesbitt’s Cut Rate Drug Store in Shenandoah and Mount Carmel, bequeathed $3 million to the university in 1985. A resident of Shenandoah, Smith’s intention was to help students from his community and the surrounding area afford college. The scholarships have been awarded to nearly 1,000 area high school students for the past 14 years. The fund is administered by Union National Bank of Mount Carmel.

Smith’s will stipulates that the recipients of the scholarship, established in memory of his wife, Marion, must attend Bloomsburg University and be residents of Ashland, Mount Carmel or Shenandoah boroughs or Mount Carmel Township. Students also must be graduates of Mount Carmel, North Schuylkill, Our Lady of Lourdes or Shenandoah Area high school.

A large portion of the awards are renewals, with nine incoming freshman students and four transfer students. Individual awards range from $600 to $1,900.

Also receiving the award is Aisha Bucanelli, a graduate of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional High School.

Each recipient must maintain full-time enrollment as well as satisfactory progress and academic good standing at Bloomsburg University to receive the scholarship in subsequent years.

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. The university serves approximately 10,000 students, offering comprehensive programs of study in the colleges of Education, Business, Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.